Peter Snaps
by kadance-holm
Summary: Peter Parker snaps instead of Tony Stark, but that's not the end. A mystery that tests the loyalty and priorities of the team.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fan fiction. I Hope you like it!**

Chapter One

"PETER"

He heard Tony calling his name frantically. It was weird to hear because Tony usually called him "Kid" or "Pete" but now was not the time for nicknames.

Peter was face to face with Thanos. He had just knocked the gauntlet out of Thanos's hand and grabbed it while Thanos was still bending over,_ I guess the little guys do have some advantages_, Peter thought. He stared at the glove for a moment, wondering what he was doing. Then he realized, if Thanos snaps again, there's no coming back. Peter slowly lifts the gauntlet.

* * *

Tony realizes what is about to happen, _Stupid genius_, he thinks, _why does Peter have to be so damn smart but so incredibly stupid at the same time?_ He's all the way across the battlefield, flying his top speed towards Peter. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. go faster!" He's still so far.

"We can't sir, we're going as fast as we can." She responds.

"Goddammit!"

* * *

Peter knows it's suicide. _But I have too, it's what Mr. Stark would do,_ he puts the gauntlet on his right hand. It automatically forms to his size. Then the pain starts. Peter yells out in agony as his arm starts burning to a crisp.

"NO!" Tony screams from where he is, still racing to get to Peter.

As the pain subsides, although it's still making him tremble, he looks Thanos straight in the eyes. He thinks about MJ and how much he loves her, about May who raised him and stood beside him, about Ned who helped him through so much, and about Tony, who was like a father to him.

He says to Thanos, "No one else is going to die." and snaps his fingers. There's a huge flash as Peter screams in pain, the burning moving to his neck and face. Tony is finally there, catching Peter as he falls to the ground. Peter is barely conscious, looking at Tony with his big brown eyes, "M-Mr. S-Stark?" His voice is trembling and full of pain.

* * *

"Yeah, yeah I'm here, oh my God."

He sees Peters limp arm burnt to a crisp and bleeding heavily, "Your gonna be ok, Kid, I promise. Just hold on!" Tony is panicking, he sees the pain in Peter's eyes. Too much for even him. "Hold on, hold on, hold on," he says frantically. Peter is about to lose consciousness.

"D-Did we win Mr. S-Stark?" His voice was still trembling. Tony just nods and doesn't take his eyes off of Peter. The others are gathered in a circle around them, not sure what to do. They know there's nothing to do, not here anyway.

Finally, Bruce walks up to Tony, puts his hand on his shoulder and says, "His powers are healing him but not fast enough, we have to get him out of here." Tony nods again and doesn't take his eyes off of Peter, who's breathing is now fast and shallow. Bruce turns to Dr. Strange and nods. He backs up and Strange walks toward Tony and Peter. Using his powers, he lifts Peter and opens a portal. Tony follows right next to Peter, not taking his eyes off of him.

"It's ok, you're going to be ok, it's gonna be alright." The words were mainly for Tony, who was trying to calm himself. It wasn't working.

Peter had passed out but still groaned occasionally from the pain. Rhodey and Pepper are trying to pull Tony away from Peter.

"Tony," Pepper says softly, "you have to let him go." Tony rips his eyes away from Peter. He looks at Pepper, nods softly and reluctantly lets go of Peter's hand. Pepper and Rhodey take him to the waiting room. Tony finally realizes where he is, the hospital wing at the Avengers HQ. "Strange is the best surgeon in the world, Peter is going to be fine."

* * *

Pepper didn't know if she was lying or not but she had to calm Tony down somehow. He had started having a panic attack, like the ones he got after the battle in New York. Hours passed and Tony had calmed down but was pacing back and forth. Finally, at 8:06 the next morning, Strange walks in with his gloves covered in blood and so were his scrubs.

"I've just finished with the rest of the wounded, but I'm sure you'd like to hear about Peter first." He says.

Tony stops pacing and looks up at him, "Is he ok?" He asks, sounding more worried than Pepper had ever heard.

"He's alive." Is the only thing Strange says.

"Oh thank God!" Tony says "Where is he? I have to see him" he starts walking past Strange but he stops him, "Tony, listen, you're not going to like what you see." Pepper imagines Peter bloody and pale, she shakes the thought away.

Happy bursts into the room, Morgan in his arms, "Where's Peter?" He says in a panicked voice.

Pepper goes and takes Morgan, "He's alive," she says to Happy, "but Strange says it's pretty bad." Happy goes to stand next to Tony and turns to Strange.

"We have to see him." His voice was stern and serious.

"I don't think that's such a good idea..." Strange responds calmly.

Morgan turns to Pepper, "What's going on, mommy?" She whispers in her ear.

"Peter got hurt, Sweety."

Morgan's face turns worried, "Is he ok?"

Pepper didn't know what to tell her.

Tony was about to punch Strange in the face. "Let. Me. See. Peter. Now." This was not a request, this was an order.


	2. Chapter 2

Recap: Peter had snapped and ended the war, killing Thanos and his army. His powers saved his life along with 11 hours of surgery by Dr. Strange. Tony wants to see him but Strange won't let him.** (Remember that this is before FFH)**

**Chapter Two**

Tony was about to punch Strange in the face, "Let. Me. See. Peter. Now." This was not a request, this was an order.

Strange was genuinely scared. He had never seen this side of Tony.

"He is still in a lot of pain," he tries. Strange remembers just how much pain he saw in Peter's eyes, how afraid he looked. Tony just glares daggers at Strange and says nothing. Although he's worried about how Tony will react, Strange takes his hand off Tony, and sighs, "Room 12." He looks down as Tony and Happy walk by. Then he turns and follows them.

Tony pauses at the door, Strange opens it and pokes his head in. "Peter?" No answer. Strange turns back to Tony, "He's asleep right now." Tony pushes past him into the room. Happy follows.

"WHAT THE HELL" Strange hears Tony yell.

He comes bursting out of the room and pushes Strange against the wall. "WHERE IS PETER?" Strange looks at Tony confused.

"What do you mean?" Tony is about to burst with fury.

"HE'S GONE" Tony yells. Strange pushes Tony off and goes into the room. He turns to the bed, the blankets are on the floor and the pillows askew, Peter is nowhere to be found. Then he notices the window open. Only it's broken. From the outside.

* * *

Peter woke up to glass breaking and falling on the ground. He opened his eyes and saw someone standing over him. A shadowy figure. It was still dark out, around 4:00 AM, Peter guessed.

That means he had been sleeping for about 1 hour before the stranger broke in. At least Peter thought it was a stranger. Before he could get a good look at them, a bag soaked in chloroform went over his head and he passed out. He grabbed his web-shooters, which had his suit inside of them, a split second before the bag went over his head.

When he woke up again, he was being carried. Hung over the stranger's shoulder. The bag over his head didn't smell like chloroform, _It was making them dizzy so they changed it_, he thought. It felt like the person carrying him was running. _They don't know I'm awake,_ he realized, _I'll wait until they stop to rest then I'll make a run for it._ But, the stranger ran for at least an hour straight before stopping by a river.

Peter only knew it was a river because he could hear the bubbling of the rapids. _But there aren't any rivers by the Avengers HQ, where am I?_ The stranger set Peter down on the ground, not trying to be gentle. Peter landed on his right arm and had to bite his lip so he didn't scream out in pain, _I'll give them a good punch before I leave, or maybe a kick._

"I've got him, I'm sending you my coordinates now. This bounty seems too good to be true, are you sure it's real?"

The stranger's voice was raspier than Peter would have expected. It sounded like they were talking on a phone and Peter could faintly hear the response,

"He said 20 million if we got the kid. Do you want the money or not? Stop asking questions and just bring him."

_Bounty? Why would anyone want me that badly? How could they know where I was? _The stranger was still distracted_. Now's my chance_, he decided.

He slipped his web-shooters onto his wrists, his right wrist was bandaged but it still hurt when he put it on. Half of his face was also bandaged along with his neck and his entire arm, it was hard to move that half of his body. Peter double taps the shooters and his suit starts encasing his body. Fortunately, the stranger's back was turned so they didn't notice anything. When the suit had covered all of him he ripped the bag off of his head and jumped up.

The stranger whipped around and Peter saw that it was a man, although his face was covered. Peter also noticed that they were in a forest, he used this to his advantage. He started running towards the stranger at full speed and at the last second he shot a web into the air and lifted off the ground, kicking the stranger in the face before swinging away.

When Peter looked back he realized that he had knocked the stranger out cold. _I should figure out who he is and who he's working for_. He turns around mid-air and swings back to the stranger.

* * *

Strange runs out of the room. Straight towards the intercom and says into it, "Lockdown! Lockdown now! No one gets in or out! Secure all exits! Five-mile perimeter search!" He looks at Tony, who's fuming.

"Tony, I had nothing to do with this, I swear to God."

Pepper stands up."What's going on?"

Tony storms to the exit, he double taps his chest and his suit starts forming around him. "Peter is gone." He says to Pepper.

"Oh no." Pepper responds. Strange looks at Happy, who's standing there in shock.

_I'm going to kill the one who took him_, Tony thinks angrily as he flies away right before the metal wall closed over the door._ But why would someone take him?_ Then he pieced it together, there's a bounty. He's dealt with this before. But who set it? Nobody knew where Peter was except for the Avengers, any one of them could have done it, but why?

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. tell Happy that someone on the team is a traitor, he'll know what to do." He says.

"Yes, sir."

_Could it be Happy?_ Tony squashed the thought, _Of course it's not Happy, he cares about Peter just as much as I do._ Tony starts searching for Peter, going ten miles instead of five.

* * *

"Happy, someone on the team is a traitor." F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice says into Happy's earpiece.

He's in the sitting room with the entire Avengers team, Peter and Tony excluded of course. Everyone is still shocked by Peter's bravery the previous day and exhausted from the fight, no one would have thought the kid would be the one to save the day.

All of them seemed to be talking at once.

"Why are we on lockdown?" Quill asked.

"Where's Tony?" That was Scott.

"Is Peter alright?" Shuri said, which surprised Happy, but, if he thought about it, Shuri did worry about Peter a lot. _Oh Peter, good luck with that,_ Happy thought. Then he remembered this is serious, someone in this room is trying to hurt Peter.

_But who would do that? He's just a kid_. He looked around the room, at the people that Peter had trusted with his life, every one of them. _That kid really does have trust issues,_ Happy stops himself again, this is serious.

"Ok, everyone," they all stop talking and look at Happy, "Peter has been kidnapped."

The eruption of noise almost made Happy panic too, but he forced himself to stay calm. _He's a tough kid, he can handle himself_. But the other half of him argued, _he was hurt and didn't have his suit, for all we know he could be-_ he cut himself off, not able to finish the thought.

"Guys! Guys listen!"

They calm down enough to look at Happy again, "The people in this room are the only ones who knew where Peter was."

He looked at everyone individually, right in the eyes, "Tony is out looking for him right now. I'm going to question each one of you alone. If any of you know something, speak up now."

The room stayed quiet. "Well then, we'll go alphabetically, made-up names, as Peter would say. Ant-Man, you first."

Scott walks up and follows Happy to Tony's office. They sit down, Happy in Tony's chair and Scott across from him. To Happy's surprise, Scott speaks first.

"Do you really think I would hurt that kid? He looks no more than 17 for God's sake." Scott looked genuinely worried for Peter.

"He's 16, actually." Happy says back.

"Jesus," he heard Scott say under his breath. "Poor kid. He's too young for this superhero stuff." Scott looks down at his hands, which were on the desk in front of him.

"Damn right." Happy agrees. They both sit there for a moment, not saying anything.

"Ok, I think you're fine. But don't go anywhere." Happy finally says. Scott gestures to the windows, metal walls on top of them.

"How can I?"

* * *

Peter had tied up the stranger and was watching him from a tree.

"Karen, turn off my suit tracker," he whispers. _Nobody can know where I am. Not even Mr. Stark._ His arm is bleeding, he can see it through the bandage, which is dirty and loose.

Peter can't believe how much thinner his right arm is from his left. He thinks about how so much has happened in less than a day, 18 hours to be exact. How he woke up after supposedly being "dead" for five whole years then to go immediately into a deadly battle and save the entire universe only to be kidnapped not even the next day with a bounty on him that was set by one of the people who he trusted the most.

He looks down at the stranger, who's finally waking up after three hours. Peter stays in the tree and waits until he's fully awake. Then he swings down right in front of him. The stranger looks scared for his life.

"Who are you?" Peter asks. The stranger says nothing.

"Who are you?" He asks more sternly. Still nothing. Peter thinks for a moment, "You're not going to say anything, are you. Fine then."

He shoots a web straight up and goes back into the trees. The sun is just rising over the horizon when Peter realizes how incredibly tired he is.

He makes sure he's secure in the tree, looks down at the stranger again, then falls immediately into a deep sleep. When Peter wakes, stars are just beginning to shine, he goes down to the stranger before he wakes up. He activates Instant Kill and stares at the stranger. With the help of his suit's night-vision, Peter is just realizing what he looks like.

He has short, brown hair and is very muscular, with a sharp jawline and broad shoulders. His nose was very crooked. Like he had broken it and done nothing. The stranger stirs, and squints to make out Peter's figure.

"I'm gonna ask you again. Who are you?" The stranger is quiet but still looks worried. Peter takes a step forward and he flinches back.

"My name is Rodney Cayson!"

Peter wasn't expecting an answer, "W-who set the bounty?"

"I don't know his name but he promised us 20 million if we brought you to him!"

Peter narrowed his eyes, "Who's 'we'?" Rodney goes pale and looks at the ground.

"Who's 'we'?" he said louder.

Rodney glances up then looks at the ground again. Peter lifts his left arm to him and webs Rodney's head to the tree so he can't look at the ground.

"Maria Hill!"

Peter is very confused, Why does that name sound familiar?

"Is that who you were talking to back at the river?" Rodney nods.

"Ok, where are we?"

Rodney looks at Peter, "Well, assuming we're in the same place as where you attacked me, about 20 miles northeast of the Avengers H.Q." Peter looks up in the sky, then back at Rodney.

"Who told you where I was?"

Rodney shrugs, "Hill did but I don't know who told her."

_They have a spy,_ Peter realizes, _but who's they?_ He points at the webs that bind Rodney to the tree.

"Alright those will dissolve in two hours." Rodney's eyes go wide.

"Wait you can't just leave me here! Hold on a second! Get me out of thes-" Peter shoots a web over his mouth and swings away. Peter goes to the top of the highest tree he can find and looks around.

Everywhere he turns there are trees. He sees something in the distance off to his right, above the treeline. It was flying. To Peter, it was a speck, but when he looked closer he realized it was a person. _Mr. Stark,_ Peter wants so badly to go to him, _he's looking for me. I can't trust anyone anymore. I can't go to him._

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Tony had been searching for over 5 hours. _I have to find him,_ he kept telling himself. _I have to find him and take him home. He's being held captive. Unless he escaped._ Tony thought about that for a moment, _Doubtful_, he decided,_ he's hurt. Does he have his suit?_ He figured it was worth a try.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., track Peter's suit."

"Sir, his suit tracker has been deactivated," Friday said with, surprisingly, worry.

_Great, just what I need_, Tony thought with sarcasm.

"Well, where did it stop tracking?" He figured he would at least be going the right way if he found that out.

"10 miles northeast." F.R.I.D.A.Y. directed.

"Holy shit," Tony said under his breath._ How did he get so far?_ Tony was already about 10 miles away from the compound. This made him wonder how long ago Peter had been kidnapped. How could I be so stupid? He had been so worried about finding Peter that he forgot to check the security tapes. As he starts flying northeast, going as fast as his suit will let him, he tells F.R.I.D.A.Y. to open the security footage from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am last night.

"Searching for footage," she says. He's about halfway to where Peter's tracker had disconnected when F.R.I.D.A.Y. finds the tapes.

"Don't play them yet. Wait until I land." He doesn't want to miss anything while he watches them. Tony flies or a few more minutes before goes down between the trees. He's eager to watch the videos.

He touches down on the ground, "Lights, camera, action." F.R.I.D.A.Y. rolls the tapes.

The timestamp is 2:01 AM. Tony flinches at seeing Peter. He looked miserable. His right arm, even though it was bandaged, was thinner than his left. He had cuts and scrapes all over him and had bags under his eyes.

"The gauntlet burnt the skin and most of the muscles in his arm." Dr. Strange was standing with his back turned to Peter, talking to a nurse.

"Poor kid," Tony heard her say, "he's been through so much." They both look at Peter over their shoulders.

"Too much if you ask me. Especially for a kid his age." Strange says with a sigh. They both walk out of the room. Tony watches the tape for a few more minutes, but it's only Peter sleeping. He looks so peaceful, Tony thinks, so innocent. He fasts forward to about 3:55 AM. He notices a dark shadow in the window above Peter's bed.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" a raspy voice asked. Tony couldn't hear the response. "Alright, if you say so."

There's a crack as the figure hits the window with a bat. They hit it again, another crack. Then again, it shatters onto the floor. Tony sees Peter's eyes open as the stranger climbs through the window. Peter grabs the web-shooters that were on his bedside table right as a bag goes over his head. The stranger lifts Peter out of the bed and hangs him over their shoulder then they climb out of the window, into the darkness of the night. Tony fasts forward again.

He watches himself freak out at Peter being gone. Then Dr. Strange coming in and running back out. Strange is out of the question. One down, 35 more to go, Tony thought to himself. It was getting dark Tony turns on his night-vision and keeps looking.

* * *

Back at the compound, Happy is still questioning the team.

"Bruce, your turn." Happy yelled standing in the doorway of Tony's office that F.R.I.D.A.Y. had turned interrogation mode on in. They walked into the room. The second they sat down, Happy started, "Would you ever hurt Peter?" he asks with a serious face.

"Of course not! He's just a kid!" Happy looks him straight in the eyes. Bruce's gaze goes everywhere but Happy's. _Why does he seem nervous? Like he's hiding something._

"Bruce, do you have anything that you want to tell me?" Happy leaned forward across the desk knocking his elbow into one of Tony's NAE Awards. Bruce doesn't answer. "Bruce?"

After a minute or two of silence, Bruce looks up at Happy.

"Can I go now?" he asks. _Where can he go?_ He thinks to himself. The metal that protects the base was made of Vibranium. Donated by T'Challa and imported from Wakanda. Even the old Hulk couldn't break, or dent it.

"I guess so." Bruce jumps up and rushes out the door. _What is he hiding?_ Happy follows Bruce back to where the rest of the team is still sitting.

* * *

Tony had been walking around for about ten minutes. Heading north away from the compound. He was beginning to get worried. _What if I can't find him? What if it's too late? No, no I can't think like that._ He came around a corner and noticed something on the back of a tree.

"What the hell?" he whispered. As Tony got closer he saw that it was some kind of string. No, not string, webs. Peter was here. He walks slowly to the other side, not letting his guard down. As Tony gets closer he realizes it's a person. His head was hanging like he was asleep. He had half dissolved webs clinging to his face. He seemed vaguely familiar to Tony. Then he remembers.

"Rodney?" His head jerks up and he looks around. "Cayson, what the hell are you doing here?" Rodney's gaze settles on Tony, he looked tense and scared. Struggling to see him in the dark. Tony had met Rodney when he was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. He had struck Tony as the 'Strong and Silent' type. Tony had never heard him speak.

"Stark?"

That voice, Tony knew immediately, he took Peter.

"Yeah, who else would it be? What are you doing here?" He decided to play it cool.

"Uh, that's confidential." Rodney looked nervous. "Of course it is. You work for S.H.I.E.L.D. right?"

"Yes."

"Huh, thought that was done for, with Hydra taking over and everything."

"We're a small organization now. Fewer people to question loyalty."

"Oh, that's good to know. So you must be here on superhero business, right?"

Rodney is silent for a moment then changes the subject. "What about you, what are you doing here?"

Tony looks around and starts walking around the tree, "Well, you know, nightly stroll in the woods, calms me down. Your turn."

"Long way from the compound for a stroll, don't you think?"

Tony stops and looks at Rodney, "And how would you know where the compound is?" Rodney's face looks panicked for a moment. "Uh, S.H.I.E.L.D. knows everything regarding the Avengers."

"Only Nick Fury and Maria Hill know where the Avengers Facility is. Besides the actual Avengers that is. So I'm going to ask you again. How do you know where the compound is?" Rodney doesn't respond. "Alright you have 10 seconds to answer or I might just make you part of the tree instead of stuck to it. If you get my drift." Tony starts walking, "Ten." Nothing, "Nine." Still no answer, "Eight."

"Alright! Alright, I'll tell you!"

"Wow, you really aren't good under pressure, are you? Cough it up then."

He still looks hesitant, "Someone told me."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. Who told you?" He's quiet again, "Seven." Tony continues

"I'm so going to get fired for this," Rodney says under his breath.

"Six."

"Maria Hill told me, now is that all or do I have to go through two full interrogations today." Tony stops walking again and stares hard at Rodney. _At least Peter was smart enough to get some answers before he left._ "Maria Hill?" Tony wasn't all that surprised.

"Yes, but I have no idea who told her what room the kid was in."

"Someone on the team told her. Why'd you take him?"

"Honestly, I don't know why we needed him. They ever tell me anything. I don't even know what his name is."

"Well, you shouldn't, he's about the only one on the team who still has a secret identity. Hey, after he beat your ass which way did he go?"

"South, I think."

"Hm, how long ago did he leave?

"About an hour, I don't know."

"You're not very helpful, are you? Doesn't matter, are you ready?"

Rodney looks very confused, "Ready for what?"

"Your trip back to the compound. Where you'll be questioned again then get a pretty little room in our underground prison. Although it was sort of destroyed when a sixteen-year-old kid saved the universe."

"He's sixteen? Geez, you guys let anyone join the team nowadays, huh?"

"He's not just 'anyone'." Tony takes the webs binding Rodney to the tree and breaks them apart. "Buckle up." He grabs Rodney and lifts off the ground. Then starts heading back to the compound.

* * *

Peter had been traveling for hours. He was exhausted and could barely move his injured arm.

_I'll just rest for a few minutes._ He swings down to the ground and walks over to the biggest tree. He falls asleep almost immediately, careful not to let his guard down completely. Every noise made him jump.

When dawn finally comes, he starts out again. Peter couldn't even move his right arm, and when he did, he had to sit down and take a breath. It was agony. He'd been heading to his apartment, knowing the only people he could truly trust were May, Ned, and MJ. I hope they're okay. Peter couldn't stop worrying about them.

As he got into view of Queens he tried to go faster. He was so close. By the time he got to the main city, he decided to go through an alley and take a back way to get to his apartment. Peter climbed to his bedroom window and peeked inside.

_Seems empty_, he thought. He couldn't see anyone. Most of his stuff was in boxes and his bed was gone. I wonder if Aunt May is even here. With that thought, he slid the window open and climbed through.

* * *

Tony was back with Rodney in handcuffs. All of the entrances to the compound were sealed off.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. tell Happy I'm back, and I have a surprise."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Happy was in the middle of questioning Bucky when he got the message from F.R.I.D.A.Y. Since they were going by made-up names, Bucky was the Winter Soldier, and one of the last to be grilled for information.

Happy made his way to one of the outside entrances. He entered the new password Strange had set up immediately after Peter's kidnapping. He and Happy were the only ones who knew it. The door opened to Tony in his suit with an unfamiliar man in his arms.

"What took you so long?" Tony said as he squeezed by Happy and into the compound. Happy turned and followed.

"I've been questioning the team," he informed Tony as they walked. "None of them seem guilty, or even capable, of hurting Peter."

Happy wondered if he should tell Tony about Bruce's interview, and his suspicious behaviour. He decided against it.

He glanced at the strange man Tony now had hung over his shoulder. There was a blindfold over his eyes.

"Uh, Tony?"

"Yep, still here." Tony responded but kept walking.

"Tony." Happy said more sternly.

"Hap, I can't stop." Tony explained, "This is the guy who took Peter and, as you've probably noticed, Peter isn't here. This sorry excuse for an agent is our only lead. That kid's out there, injured, and by himself. I know he's figured out we've got a traitor so he's obviously not going to come back."

Tony quieted for a moment, then stopped abruptly in the middle of the passageway. Happy almost ran into him.

"He doesn't trust any of us…" Tony looked down at his feet, "he doesn't trust me."

Happy had only ever seen Tony this distraught once. When his parents were killed.

Happy walked around Tony and stood facing him. He placed a hand reassuringly on his unoccupied shoulder.

"We'll find Peter, we will." He searched his friend's face but Tony was still looking at the ground. "Come on," Happy takes his hand off of Tony and points at the man hung over his shoulder, "he's not going to interrogate himself." Then turns around and keeps walking.

They walk down the corridor in silence for a few seconds, then Happy turns his head and looks over his shoulder at Tony, "Who is that guy, anyway?"

"Rodney Cayson, he works for S.H.I.E.L.D., I met him a while back."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s still a thing?"

"Yeah, I guess. He says it's pretty small now, though."

"Did he tell you where he got Peter's information?"

"Apparently, Maria Hill has something to do with it, but, like we thought, someone on the team told her about Peter."

Tony was falling apart, but he knew he had to stay strong for the team, for Peter. That was part of the reason he was crumbling. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why someone would kidnap Peter.

He first thought they did it for the money, but Rodney would've left a ransom note. _Could it be one of Peter's old enemies?_ Tony thought about that for a moment, but every one of his past villains were either in prison or dead. _That kid's a damn good hero._ He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, he couldn't focus on it right now. Tony had to find his kid.

"Tony we got a probl-" Steve started but stopped at the sight of the man draped over Tony as they walked into the common room. "Who's he?"

"Someone." Tony said and kept walking towards what was left of the interrogation room. He wasn't about to give away information to anyone unless he knew for sure he could trust them._ This is going to tear the team apart_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: This is only half of the chapter, I've been really busy lately. It's coming along slowly but surely, thanks for sticking with me! **

**Chapter Four**

"What's the problem?" Happy asked, turning to face the red, white, and blue-clad figure.

"Furys on a call in the conference room and we aren't sure if we should answer it or not," Scott said, absently sipping on a Capri-Sun. He looked sort of dazed and kept tripping over everything. Happy leaned towards Steve and dropped his voice.

"Did someone spike Scott's Capri-Sun?" Happy said, throwing a query glance towards Scott.

Thor walked up to the two of them, flask in hand, "He was stressed." He states and takes a quick swig of whatever Asgardian alcohol was in it.

Happy was about to reveal the situation to the whole team, but before he could, Shuri yelled.

"Happy! Did you find Peter?"

Everyone's attention turned to him. He panicked for a second, but took a deep breath and laid it out.

"No, we didn't find him yet." He paused and looked directly at Shuri, trying to reassure her, "But we did find who took him."

* * *

Peter slowly pushed open his bedroom door. His eyes swept over the dark apartment. There were boxes everywhere and everything was covered in dust. _Where's May? _Peter asked himself. He tried to think of where she could be, but the pain in his arm was making it hard to focus. He made his way to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. As he moved to open the door, Peter sees himself in the mirror for the first time since coming back. He could barely recognize himself.

His hair was snarled and stiff. His face had a layer of dirt that covered every inch of his skin, down to where his suit ended at the base of his neck. He reached up with his good arm to touch the dark circles under his eyes. Suddenly he felt as if he hadn't showered in months, and he certainly didn't feel like he'd saved the universe.

Peter found some painkillers and carefully read the label before taking any. Then turned on the shower.

When he got out of the shower, he wiped away the steam on the mirror. Now that the bandage was gone, he could see the real damage the snap had caused. Almost half of his face was covered in long scars that stretched up from his shoulder and didn't quite reach his nose. The same scars decorated across his chest from his shoulder. His arm was unbelievably thin, quite literally skin and bone. He tried to move his fingers or bend his elbow, anything to reassure himself he wasn't completely useless now. Nothing. _When this blows over, _he tells himself, _I'll fix this. _He looked himself in the eyes, _I am not done helping people._

He found some of his clothes in a box labeled "Peter" after he'd scrounged up enough bandage to rewrap his entire arm. There were quite a few with the same label. Everything he owned was packed away. Other boxes had May's things, but it looked like there were about three times as many boxes of Peter's.

Now that the pain in his arm was finally subsiding, though he still couldn't move it, Peter realized he was starving. He tried to remember the last time he'd eaten.

_Mr. Strange said we'd been gone for five years. Have I really not eaten in five years? _He rummaged through a couple of boxes labeled "Kitchen" and found a can of chili. He decided that's the best he could do at the moment.

With his stomach full and his pain somewhat bearable, Peter laid down with his head propped up and closed his eyes, he tried to assess the situation.

_Everyone's back from the snap. We defeated Thanos' army and have all the stones. I was kidnapped by an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D and… and there's a bounty or a ransom of some sort. __**Twenty Million dollars. **__For me? Who in their right mind would pay _that _much money for… me? _

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of keys jingling at the front door. He jumped and clung to the ceiling, biting his tongue to keep from screaming out in pain. The door opened. He craned his neck to see the person who entered the apartment.

"May!" Peter exclaimed as half jumped and half fell off of the ceiling. May stood in the doorway, unable to speak. Peter righted himself and looked expectantly at her. She looked older. _Five years, _Peter's mind echoed. "May?" He said, taking a step forward.

"Peter?" She breathed, like he was the last person she'd expect to see here. He tried to answer but May wrapped him in a hug before he could get the words out. "You're real." She whispered and squeezed him tighter. "You're really real."

Peter hugged her back, wishing he never had to leave May's arms. After a minute or so, she put him at arm's length.

"I thought you were dead! You left for a field trip and the next thing I know they're carving your name into stone with the rest of the Vanished! They told everyone you weren't coming back, they kept telling us 'They're gone. You have to move on, there's nothing you can do.' and I tried not to listen, I tried, but you were gone for _five years_, Peter!"

"I know, May, I know. I'm so sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize!" Her eyes were red and her voice was shaking. She searched his face for a moment, then ran her thumb over the scars on Peter's face. "My God, Peter. What's happened to you?"

He shrugged and looked down at the floor, "It's a long story."


End file.
